


Life and Lemons

by jcrycolr3wradc



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Cute Kids, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Motorcycles, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-07 15:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18413207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcrycolr3wradc/pseuds/jcrycolr3wradc
Summary: After the Recession of 2009 Paul moved in with Alice and her parents. Alice always thought he was cool but she didn't know how cool until he pulled up on a motorcycle.A/N: I needed to know more things about Bill, Paul and Alice. So I wrote it.





	Life and Lemons

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I needed more stuff about Alice and her Uncle Paul. Also about Paul and Bill. Also, a non-negotiable HC of mine is that Paul has a motorcycle. It was his grandad’s Harley Davidson.

Alice was nine, almost ten when Uncle Paul moved into their guest room on in their house Vine Street. It wasn’t for very long, just six months.

“Paul’s just getting back on his feet,” Dad explained. Alice knew this had something to do with the economy, she could hear the news every night when she sat at the top of the stairs listening to her parent's talk in angry voices.

Her mom wasn’t happy with it, Alice could tell. Which was weird since she always thought that her mom liked Uncle Paul. When he came at Thanksgiving and Christmas she always acted happy.

“You should have asked me before you just invited him, Bill.” Alice was at the top of the stairs, absently pulling on her curls as she listened. Mom sounded the same way as when Alice rode her bike over to Jenny’s house without asking her first. It was only a block away, what was the big deal? _You scared me because you didn’t tell me where you went. I thought something bad happened to you._ Alice was grounded for three days after that.

“Nicole, you like Paul. I thought you would be okay with it.” There was a bang and Alice jumped. Someone had just slammed the dishwasher shut.

“My problem isn’t with Paul, it’s the fact you assumed I was just going to be okay with you inviting him here for god knows how long.”

“He’s a good guy, he’s not just going to-”

“Why do I even try?”

Alice leaned forward. Mom and Dad were facing off, on opposite sides of the kitchen. Dad was doing the dishes, sleeves trailing in the water. Mom was leaning against the counter, shaking her head.

“Arguing with you is like driving in circles, you’re gonna ignore my point. You don’t listen, Bill.” Mom's voice was quiet but Alice could see how mad she was. She was looking at the ground, her arms crossed tight over her chest.

Dad reached out, “Nicky-”

Mom moved and started towards the stairs. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

Alice scrambled to her room and had just pulled up the covers when she heard her mom pass. She waited for her to check on Alice, but the footsteps moved right past, into her parent's bedroom.

Alice laid awake, listening to her dad finish the dishes and slowly climb the stairs. Her door opened and Alice quickly closed her eyes. She felt him sit down on the edge of the bed. He didn’t say anything, just sat there.

He was still there when Alice fell asleep for real.

XXX

Uncle Paul had a motorcycle.

Apparently, neither of her parents knew this until Uncle Paul pulled up outside their house.

“I showed you a picture, Bill. Remember? It was over my desk in the dorm room,” Paul said. They went out to dinner at Red Lobster and Alice was only half-listening as the adults talked. She couldn’t decide between the shrimp linguine and the crab cakes.

“You said that was your grandfather's.”

“I inherited it. He was the one who taught me to ride.”

“I’m not super comfortable with you riding it. Also, Alice is not allowed anywhere near it,” Mom said.

Alice looked up, already protesting. “Mom!”

“No Alice.” She also looked at Uncle Paul. “Absolutely not.” He held up his hands in surrender but when her parents were discussing appetizers, he leaned over to her.

“We’ll work up to it, if you want.”

Alice grinned and nodded.

XXX

Mom’s insistence that Alice not be allowed anywhere near “that death trap” last about two weeks. Alice came down one morning to find that both of her parents were rushing around.

“Bill! Have you seen my wallet?” Mom called from the front. She sounded stressed and Alice quickly moved out of the way when she rushed by.

“No, why would I have your wallet? Alice, get in here and eat breakfast.”

Uncle Paul was already sitting at the table, he had a newspaper and was circling things. She looked over his shoulder and saw they were different jobs.

“Dammit, I’m going to be late! Okay, Bill, you’ll need to take Alice to school.” Mom was juggling her keys, coffee cup, and purse. “I’ll be home late tonight, I’ll be in surgery until five.”

“Nicole, I can’t take Alice. I have that presentation to Harris at eight!” Dad’s job was in the opposite direction of her school.

“I could stay home,” Alice tried hopefully. She was in the middle of reading _The Prisoner of Azkaban_ and it was easier to do it when she didn’t have to hide it in class.

“No Alice,” her parents chorused. She scowled down at her cereal bowl.

“I can take her,” Uncle Paul said. He didn’t look up from the newspaper.

“No Paul.” Again, her parents were able to synchronize perfectly. Mom cast a glance at him. “You don’t even know where it is, Paul.”

“It’s not like I have anything pressing going on. Alice, you could tell me where it is, right?” He turned to her.

She nodded, heart, swelling hopefully.

“She doesn't have a helmet,” Dad pointed out. Before Alice could protest that she did so have a bike helmet, she got it for Christmas, Uncle Paul looked up, eyes wide. 

“I have an extra helmet. It’s on the smaller side for me, but it should fit her fine.”

Alice smiled at him as her parents had a very intense staring competition.

Finally, Mom threw up her hands. “Fine! You’re in charge of getting her there in one piece,” she said angrily and stomped out the door.

Alice was too excited to be too worried about it and hurried through getting her breakfast and backpack.

Her dad walked out with them and watched with his hands on his hips as Paul helped her get on the bike, keeping it upright. It was too warm for the denim jacket he insisted she wear but she felt like it looked cool. He put the helmet on her and Alice was surprised at how tight it was. It felt a little scary to not be able to see on either side of her.

“Alice, baby? Are you sure you want to? You and Uncle Paul can always just walk.” Dad sounded like he was hoping she was going to change her mind but Alice shook her head.

“No. I want to dad,” she insisted. Dad looked at Uncle Paul who shrugged.

“Anything happens to her and you’re toast, Matthews.”

“Okay.” Uncle Paul put on his own helmet. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to my favorite god-daughter, right Alice?”

“I’m you’re only god-daughter,” she said. Paul swung one leg over the bike, which made it wobble slightly and Alice grabbed onto his jacket.

“Exactly. We’re all good.” he turned it on and it was very different from a car. Alice could feel her eyes widen. “Still okay back there, Alice?”

She nodded. “I’m good. I’ll see you tonight, Dad.”

“Okay, Alice. I love you.”

They slowly pulled down the driveway and out into the street. Her stomach swooped like she was on a rollercoaster as they gradually built up speed.           

Everything felt so much faster when there was nothing between Alice and the pavement. She looked down and was quickly dizzy. The yellow stripes on the pavement became one fuzzy caterpillar-like blur.

They pulled up to the first traffic light.

“How’s it going, Alice? Having fun?” Paul asked, shouting over the sound of the engine.

She nodded against his back, gasping when they light turned green and they shot ahead of the cars.

They arrived at the school right before the bell rang. Alice caught sight of her classmates faces and grinned widely. She felt so grown up and cool, even if the helmet had flattened her curls to her head.

“I’ll see if your parents also want me to pick you up if you want,” Paul said as he helped her off the back. Her knees were slightly shaky.

“I do! And you can drop me off tomorrow too!” Alice said. Paul grinned and they shook on it.

XXX

All day Alice got questions about the motorcycle. It turned out she was the first one in her class to ride one.

“You’re Uncle is so cool,” Gace Chastity said.

“Would he let me take a ride?” Jenny Hooper asked.

Jake, who always had to be the best, bragged at lunchtime that his father had three motorcycles.

“Then why haven’t we seen any of them?” Alice demanded.

“Because my father works all the time in Clivesdale. He doesn’t have time to drive me around like you’re uncle does,” he said, making a face at her. Jake was gross and mean and reminded Alice a lot of Draco Malfoy.

“Well Uncle Paul says I’m his favorite, so he gives me rides all the time,” she said proudly. Jake stuck out his tongue and then they both got in trouble when Alice threw her cheese stick at him.

It wasn’t even technically a lie since pretty soon Paul was allowed to take Alice to school every day. Her parents complained every morning but she wouldn’t have traded it for anything.    

XXX

Uncle Paul had a _boyfriend_.

Like a girlfriend, but a _boy_.

Alice was doing her math homework and needed help. She’d started asking Paul since he was good at math and could usually help translate it for her without getting frustrated.

She knocked on the door. Paul opened it and she blinked. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a dress shirt she hadn’t ever seen before.

“Hey, Alice, what’s up?”

“Can you help me with my homework?” She held up the textbook. “We’re starting fractions and decimals.”

“Sure, we can look it for a second,” Paul said. She beamed at him and skipped over to sit down on his bed.

They were still working through the assigned problems when the doorbell rang.  

“Oh shit, I totally forgot!” Paul said suddenly, standing up and reaching for his jacket.

“Where are you going?” Alice was more than happy to close the book and follow him downstairs.

“Oh, uh. I have a date tonight.”

Alice was agog. (A word she’d just learned in reading class.) “You’re going on a date?”

“Yep. Hey, Frank.”

There was a strange man standing in the living room with her parents. He wore a leather jacket like the one Paul wore on the motorcycle. He grinned when he saw Paul.

“Hi, Paul. Who’s your shadow?”

“This Alice.” Paul did the annoying thing where he put his hand on her head and ruffled her curls. She ducked away, scowling.

“Where are you guys going?” Dad asked.

“I heard _Zombieland_ was pretty good,” Frank said looking over at, who Paul rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Horror fetishist.”

“At least I’m not a snob. Just because it wasn’t directed by some German guy doesn’t make it bad,” Frank said pointedly.

“Okay, okay, let’s go.”

They said goodnight to Alice and her parents before leaving. Mom looked over at Dad.

“Have you met him before?”

“Frank’s nice. He works at the city bank and I think Paul knew him from the newspaper.”

“Are they meeting Uncle Paul’s girlfriend at the theater?” Alice asked. Mom and Dad looked at each other.

“No, Alice,” Dad finally said.

“But Uncle Paul said he was going on a date,” she insisted. She’d been watching _Lizzie McGuire_ and _That’s So Raven_ and made Paul watch the _Cheetah Girls_ with her twice. She knew what a date was.

“Well Uncle Paul is going on a date, but with Frank.” Dad sat down across from her.

Alice stared at him. “They’re both boys,” she said slowly. She felt like she was missing something.

“Yeah. Uncle Paul likes to go on dates with boys and girls,” Dad said. He was watching her, staring into her eyes. “And you know Alice, that’s okay.”

Alice nodded, still a little bewildered. “Okay. I need to finish my homework,” she said.

“Do you think she got it?” She heard her mom ask.

“I think so. She’s a good kid, she’ll ask if she has more questions.”

XXX

The next day was Saturday and Alice got Paul to take her to the beach. It was starting to get colder and some of the houses already had Halloween decorations up.

Paul was teaching her how to throw and catch a baseball.

“You’ll need to get your dad to show you how to hit it, I was never very good at that,” he told her.

She managed to catch is five times in a row when she put the glove down.

“Dad told me you go on dates with boys and girls.”

Paul had been about to throw the ball again but he lowered his arm.

“Okay. I do.”

“Why?” Alice shook her hair out of her face and wished she’d brought a scrunchie.

“Well, uh, because I like both of them.” Alice stared at him blankly. “You know how you like lemon cookies and chocolate chip?” He asked.

Alice nodded. “Yeah?”

“Well some people only like chocolate chip, right? Like Jake, in your class.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Jake’s boring.”

Paul laughed. “Yeah, but I’m someone who likes lemon and chocolate chip.” He tossed the ball to her. She threw it back and Paul chased after it, looking like a two-legged greyhound.

“So are there people who only like lemon?” She asked when he returned.

“Lemon? Like just girls? Yeah, sure.”

Alice smiled. She’ been a little worried that she was going to have to like boys, too.

“Okay. Hey, can we get ice cream on the way home?”

XXX

Uncle Paul was her hero.

“You never ever listen to me, Bill! I told you, I TOLD YOU-”

“Well, you never asked! So how can I know if you don’t-”

“Oh my god! Are you serious right now?!”

It was Halloween and her parents had been screaming at each other for an hour. Both of them had assumed the other was taking Alice, Jenny and Grace trick-or-treating. Her friends had gotten to her house and her parents had fought back and forth over who was going to take her, while Alice stood there in mortification. Finally, Paul grabbed his jacket and herded them out of the house. Alice thought she could hear him say something to them, but she was too shaken to hear what it was.   

Ultimately, Paul took them around the block and then out to dinner at McDonald's. She apologized over and over as they hid in the play-place.

“It’s okay! I’ll just take some candy from my brother. He’s too little to eat all of it,” Jenny said. The knees of her vampire dress were dirty.

“My parents say candy is bad for your teeth,” Grace said and adjusted the headband of her fairy costume.

Alice sniffled. “They ruin everything,” she insisted. Her friends patted her shoulder. Jenny hugged her tightly.

Eventually, she and Paul had to walk them back home. As she and Paul walked closer to the house Alice wanted less and less to go inside. She stopped at the end of the walkway.

“Do you want to stay out here for a while?” Uncle Paul asked. She nodded.

For an hour they sat on the cold concrete and he pointed out different constellations. Alice hadn’t ever learned about them in school but Paul’s grandfather had taught him all of them.

“My grandfather and grandmother raised me, you know.”

Alice looked over at him. “Why?”

“My parents were in a car accident when I was a child. They died and my dad’s parents took me in.”

“Was it bad?”

Paul was quiet for a moment. “Well I always missed my parents, but I loved my grandparents and I knew they would always support me. The hardest thing was when I lost them, too. But I have you and your family, now too.”

Alice could feel the tears welling up and she blinked hard.

“I’m scared. They don't even act like they love each other anymore,” she whispered.

“Oh kiddo.” Paul wrapped his arms around her and let Alice cry on his shirt.

“Are they gonna get divorced?” She sobbed. She didn’t want them to, she wanted everything to go back the way it was.

“I don’t know Alice, but hey, look.” She raised her head, even though her nose was running and the sparkles Mom put on her cheeks were probably ruined. “No matter what happens, I’ll still be there for you, okay? Even if they get divorced we’ll still be friends and nothing will change that, okay?”

She nodded against him, still sad and scared, but letting him make her feel safer.

XXX

The week after school ended, Mom and Dad told her they were getting divorced.

“This has nothing to do with you sweetheart. We just don’t work together as a team anymore,” Mom said. Dad starred at the coffee table and didn’t speak.

Alice was going to moe to Clivesdale. Away from Jenny and Grace. Away from her new middle school. Away from Uncle Paul. She’d get to come back once a month, but Alice knew in her heart it wouldn’t be the same. Her friends would forget about her and their house on Vine Street would be sold.

They never even asked Alice if she had an opinion on what life she wanted. Mom told her about all the fun she’d have in Clivesdale since it was a bigger city and there was more to do. Alice didn’t care. She wanted the small town she’d always known. She wanted the beaches and the Fourth of July Parade and her backyard where her first hamster was buried.

She didn’t want Clivesdale.

Over the next ten years, she learned to adapt to it. Until Alice turned fourteen Mom drove her over the bridge to Hatchetfeild for her week with Dad and Dad who would return her on Monday morning.

Uncle Paul and Dad started working at the same company but there was no more time for her to ride on his motorcycle or sneak out for ice cream. They went and saw Moana together even through Paul hated musicals.

Alice met Deb at a party that Jenny had. She slumped back in a pool chair, watching as the other freshmen splashed each other.

“This is lame,” Deb muttered. Alice laughed and Deb smiled at her, sweet and gooey like an iced lemon cookie.

They kissed for the first time in front of Dad’s apartment building. She tasted the smoky flavor from Deb’s hit off the pipe and the nacho flavor from the Pringles. She kissed so right though. Soft lips and that gentle touch on Alice’s hip.  

Alice adapted. She’d text Deb every hour, sending her cat video and silly 420 memes even though Deb said it was dumb. They made plans to visit Denver after graduation even though it was mostly a joke.

Her mom insisted on having her graduation party in Clivesdale since it would be easier to arrange everything and her house was bigger than Dad’s.

Deb and Jenny came. Dad invited Grace Chastity, who looked out of place but wasn’t as much of a buzz kill as Alice thought she might be. Her undergraduate friends from Clivesdale Academy also attended, excited to finally meet her girlfriend.

“She like, literally never shuts up about you,” Megan said and Alice could have died when Deb smirked and kissed her cheek.

Dad came and he and Mom were civil to each other, both of them just wanting to gush over her. “I’m so proud baby. Six acceptance letters!I told everyone at work,” Dad assured her and even though Alice rolled her eyes she did feel really proud. One of them had been Hatchetfeild Community College which she’d been automatically applied to, but the other five had been her top choices.

A few hours in the doorbell rang and Dad insisted she get it.

“It’s a surprise sweetheart,” he said. Alice tried to think of who he would have invited for her and beamed when the door opened.

“Uncle Paul!”

He scooped her up into a huge hug and she held onto the back of his jacket.

“Great job kiddo,” he whispered into her ear and stood back. “It’s great to see you, Alice.”

“You too! Come in,” she waved him and only just noticed the shorter woman before the door shut. “Oh, hi?” Alice said.

“How’s it going? You’re Alice? I’ve heard all about you.” She nudged Paul in his ribs. “This one never shuts up about you. I’m Emma.”

Alice shook her head and looked up at Paul who was blushing slightly. “Um, thanks? It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Emma’s my girlfriend,” Paul said, grinning. Alice could feel her eyebrows raise. She’d never seen him look so...happy.

“Cool. Everyone else is in here, we have snacks and Dad’s doing barbeque outside.”

“So should I have the fire department on speed dial or?” Emma asked dryly. Alice laughed in surprise. She might not know the older woman but she was into her sense of humor.

“Bill’s better with a grill than you are with a stove, Em,” Paul said and was promptly elbowed in the side for his troubles.

“Look what the cat dragged in!” Dad called out and clapped Paul on the back. “Hey, Emma!”

“Hi, Bill. Sorry, we’re late. Hidgens’s kept us late at the lab,” Emma said. At Alice’s look, she rolled her eyes. “Professor Hidgens. This kooky biology professor I have. He’s a really entertaining teacher but like, really weird. He was making us learn this song to memorize the skeletal system.”

Alice liked Emma more and more with every word. “Are you a biology major?” She still didn’t know what she wanted to major in and it was giving her anxiety, even though everyone told her it would be fine.

“Botany. But I’ve been tempted, even just so I can take more of his classes,” Emma said, taking a beer from the cooler. “Hey, wanna see a trick? It’ll help you in college.”

Alice nodded and jumped back when Emma put the edge of the bottle cap on the deck railing and brought the heel of her hand down on it several times so the cap flipped off. She seemed unbothered by the foam that spilled over her fingers as she toasted Alice with a wink and took a sip.

“Paul! Get her away from Alice, she’s going to be a bad influence!” Dad shouted and Paul just laughed.

“Bill, she can’t be any worse than I was, come on. I took a minor on a motorcycle.” He winked at Alice.

“God, don’t remind me.”

“Yeah Bill, I haven’t even told her about the pot farm yet,” Emma said. Deb looked over from where she’d been talking to Mom and mouthed pot _farm?_ Alice giggled into her hand.

Then Emma said, “Wait, what motorcycle?” and Alice laughed aloud as Paul tried to explain to her about his “super secret motorcycle”.

Her Uncle Paul had always been the coolest.   


End file.
